As
you may have already noticed, the second floor of the
Law Library underwent some significant changes over
the summer. Library improvements included relocating
the Document Delivery Center (DDC) to increase accessibility;
renovating the Circulation Desk and staff workstations
to enhance service; creating a fully enclosed Reserve
area to address security of materials; repositioning
the Circulation and DDC service centers to improve sight
lines and ability to monitor the entrance; centralizing
reference librarian offices to improve visibility and
facilitate collaborative research and reference services;
and increasing student study rooms and seating.

All
of this was accomplished in less than three months and
with very little disruption to library services. To
see how each department, whether Circulation, Reference,
or Technical Services, was directly impacted by and
addressed the various challenges associated with this
project, read on.

Law Library
Remodeling

Circulation

Planning
for the relocation of Circulation Services, including
the Reserve collection and the DDC, began in early
April. The challenge was to dismantle, box, and relocate
the second floor during the final days of exam week.
Demolition was scheduled to begin on May 13. Our goal
was to accomplish this monumental task during an intense
study period without disrupting essential services.
In addition to moving the Open and Closed Reserve
book collections (7,500 books) to the Court Level,
arrangements were made to relocate/store five DDC
printers, twelve student computer workstations, six
public computer terminals, two photocopy machines,
three sets of 3M security gates, circulation desk
equipment and staff offices. Staff members Charity
Braceros and Michael Zubitis were instrumental in
organizing the book shift to the Court Level compact
shelving.

A third
floor classroom was designated as the temporary DDC
and Circulation staff office. In less than one week,
a functional DDC was up and running, providing printing
and computer access capabilities to patrons. Students
and alumni patrons were delighted with the prompt
resumption of computer services. The library retained
uninterrupted interlibrary loan and Summit borrowing
functions.

Access
to the library stacks and reestablishment of circulation
and reference services resumed on May 31 after a short,
two-week closure. Students beginning summer classes
were able to take full advantage of library resources.
The library did not curtail service hours, remaining
open until midnight, seven days a week. A working
collection of hornbooks, nutshells, and study aids
for summer courses was placed near the circulation
desk on the third floor for easy access. Circulation
staff trained new student employees and additional
training was required when materials were moved to
their permanent locations.

Patrons
experienced initial confusion about the summer reconfiguration,
but the library distributed informational handouts
and increased signage to facilitate the transition.
Essential services were maintained and access to material
remained available despite the unfamiliar layout.

Library
usage does not significantly decrease during the summer.
Classes are in session, graduates use the library
to study for the bar exam, students are researching
for summer employers, faculty are writing and utilizing
their research assistants to gather information and
material. Under extraordinary and sometimes frustrating
conditions, the library continued to provide study
space and research assistance to our users.

The
remodeled Circulation, Reserve, and DDC areas were
reopened on August 9th.

Reference

During
the library renovation, the reference desk found a
temporary home on the third floor in room 306. Thanks
to the time and effort that went into planning and
preparation, there was very little interruption in
reference services. Our ready reference collection
was housed on temporary book trucks and the reference
phone and law.reference.seattleu.edu e-mail account
were up and running when the library reopened for
business on May 31st.

Most patrons
were able to find the new home of the reference desk
with no problem and we maintained a steady flow of
service during the construction. The majority of our
collection was still available for circulation and
our membership in the Summit consortium came in handy
for the items that were unavailable either because
they were in off-site storage or in shrink wrap.

The library
set up a dedicated webpage for the library renovation
information which contained construction news
and announcements.

Technical
Services

The remodeling
of the second floor of the library necessitated large-scale
modifications in coding in the library catalog as
well as shifting of books. Because the Open Reserve
and classified Reference collections were moved to
the Court Level, notes were added to each title’s
record (3,300 records) in the catalog, indicating
that the books were in an interim location for the
summer. In response to changes in the configuration
of the second floor, the classified Reference, Open
Reserve, and Closed Reserve collections are now in
a new location called Reserve and this change is indicated
in each catalog record for the titles in this new
location. A crew of students and staff relabeled and
reprocessed the Reserve collection (10,275 volumes).

The library
has created a new FAQ which answers some of the most
commonly asked questions by faculty RAs including:
How do I obtain material from the University of Washington
Libraries? Where do I make photocopies? How do I borrow
books on interlibrary loan (ILL)? The FAQ was distributed
to summer faculty RAs via e-mail. The librarians worked
with the RAs throughout the summer on a variety of
faculty research projects. The library encourages
RAs to set up an appointment with their faculty member’s
librarian liaison to go over library services and
discuss research strategies.

New Westlaw Representative

Anna Guerra,
our Westlaw representative, returned to her native
New Orleans at the end of June. Her replacement is
Randy Widdison. Randy is a 2006 graduate of Creighton
Law School where he was a member of the Law Review
and the Moot Court Board. He was also a Westlaw student
representative at Creighton. His e-mail address is:
randy.widdison@thomson.com.

Indian Law Exhibit

The Indian
law exhibit is an introduction to the specialty field
of Indian law. Indian law is a body of law about the
status of Indian tribes and their special relationship
with the government, and how the law has evolved over
time. Some topics covered include the Cherokee cases,
the relocation policies of the 19th century, and self
determination in the 20th century. Indian law will
be bar tested in Washington State starting in 2007.

The Indian
law exhibit is on display starting August 2006 in
the Dolliver Reading Room on the 4th floor of the
library. It was created by Library Interns Jessica
de Perio (Class of 2006) and Jane Griffin (2L) in
consultation with Librarian Kelly Kunsch.

11th Annual Bridge the Gap
a Success

This year
marked the 11th annual Bridge the Legal Research Gap
program. The half-day session is a joint effort of
the Gallagher Law Library (University
of Washington) and the Seattle University Law
Library. Bridge the Gap is a free program open to
summer associates from all law schools. Subjects covered
included Administrative Law Research, Advanced Internet
Research and Lawyers’ Practice Materials. As
in previous years, the program was presented twice
in order to best accommodate the various law school
schedules. This year had almost 200 attendees from
law schools across the country. Kerry Fitz-Gerald,
Barbara Swatt-Engstrom and Stephanie Wilson presented.

Conferences and Workshops

AALL

From July
8-13, Kristin Cheney, Kara Phillips, Kelly Kunsch,
Kent Milunovich and Stephanie Wilson attended the
annual meeting of the American Association of Law
Libraries (AALL),
which was held in St. Louis. The majority of conference
time was devoted to interviewing candidates for our
new reference librarian position. During the conference,
we reviewed numerous resumes, and interviewed several
candidates.

In addition
to interviewing, several of us attended business meetings.
Kristin attended the ALL-SIS
directors’ meeting, the ALL-SIS business meeting,
and the director’s lunch hosted by the Association
of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU).
She also received an award from AALL for our entry
in the “Day
in the Life of a Law Library” photograph contest.

Kara and Kent also attended a meeting for middle managers
hosted by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities,
which featured a speech by Father Frank Reale on Jesuit
history. Stephanie attended the business meeting of
the Western Pacific Association of Law Libraries (WestPac),
and the business meeting of the Special Interest Section
Standing Committee on Lesbian and Gay Issues.

International
Canadian Studies Institute

Librarian
Kerry Fitz-Gerald spent the last two weeks of July
participating in the 2006 International Canadian Studies
Institute sponsored by Foreign Affairs Canada, the
Canadian Consulate General Seattle, and the Pacific
Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium. The Institute
opened with a briefing and presentation on the Canada
Border Services as the group crossed the border into
British Columbia. Once in Canada, the group met with
a variety of governmental and private groups, ranging
from the Royal Canadian Navy to the Lions Gate Film
studios. The entire trip was fascinating; of particular
interest were the presentations in Whitehorse, Yukon,
including one by Ian Burnett, the Territorial Archivist
at the Yukon Archives and another by the Northern
Climate Exchange Group addressing global warming.
Overall, the group attended 90 presentations in 12
days.